Optical networks transmit data in the form of optical signals carried over optical fibers. To maximize utilization of network bandwidth, optical networks employ technology such as wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). For example, a WDM ring optical network transports data traffic between different points on the network. Conventional WDM ring architectures include nodes that use a coupler to tap off a fraction of the WDM signal from the WDM ring and that use one or more tunable filters and optical receivers to retrieve traffic in a particular wavelength(s) of the tapped WDM signal.